Rising star Israel Adesanya captured the UFC interim middleweight title with a thrilling win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 in Atlanta on Saturday and continued to draw comparisons to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones with his flashy kickboxing and dynamic personality.

Neither fighter is thrilled with being linked to the other.

Jones escalated a feud that has been building over the past several months on social media by taking to Twitter immediately after Adesanya’s win.

“You can believe the hype if you want to,” Jones wrote in a since-deleted post. “I’ve seen all I had to see.”

Adesanya declined comment Saturday on Jones, saying he didn’t want all the headlines to be about the light heavyweight champion on the biggest night of his own career.

He didn’t stay quiet for long.

Adesanya appeared Monday on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” on ESPN-Plus to share his feelings on Jones, who he believes is trying to draw him into a fight in the near future before he gains more experience and becomes more dangerous.

“I don’t like bullies,” Adesanya said. “I detest bullies. So he’s going to get this work, but not until I am ready to give him this work. I could fight him right now, but I want to fight him when I know I can (expletive) him up. I’m still learning.”

Adesanya wasn’t done going after Jones, who he used several expletives to describe. The 29-year-old former world champion kickboxer, who was born in Nigeria and moved to New Zealand at 13, believes Jones is attacking him because he represents what Jones could have been had his indiscretions outside the cage not interfered with his career.

“I’m everything he wished he could’ve been when he first came into the UFC,” Adesanya said. “He wants to be Nike-sponsored and praise God, then (he does cocaine). He was crashing and (doing) steroids and hiding under the cage (from sample collectors) and all that (expletive). I was a fan. At UFC 94, I watched him (expletive) up Stephan Bonnar, and I was like, ‘Holy (expletive), this mother(expletive) is amazing. But he just came across like a piece of (expletive).”

Jones is scheduled to defend his belt against Thiago Santos on July 6 at T-Mobile Arena. Adesanya’s win sets him up for a unification bout against middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, likely in Australia in the second half of 2019.

Poirier ready for lightweight champ

Dustin Poirier got past featherweight champ Max Holloway in Saturday’s other title bout to claim the interim lightweight belt and set up a unification fight with champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The lightweight champion took to Twitter to congratulate Poirier and extend an invitation for a September bout, which is likely to take place in Abu Dhabi.

While Conor McGregor insinuated on Twitter he would be next in line for Nurmagomedov in a rematch of their contentious October bout, UFC president Dana White said Poirier had earned the title shot.

Poirier believes he has the recipe to hand the lightweight champion the first loss of his career.

“Grit, determination, the right amount of crazy and self-belief,” Poirier said. “Everything it takes to be a champion, I have that.”

New PPV process causes issues

Saturday night marked the UFC’s first pay-per-view event under a deal making ESPN-Plus the exclusive distributor for consumer buys and social media was cluttered with complaints about the ordering process.

White said the glitches were simply a matter of working through a new process and things would get better moving forward.

”This deal came out of nowhere,” White said. “We were having trouble getting a deal done with regular pay-per-view providers and it gave us the idea to look elsewhere. We did, we ended up striking a deal very quickly with ESPN and everybody had to work fast to get this thing done. Tonight wasn’t perfect, but we’ll get things fixed.”

Customers were asked to order the event through their computer and the stream would then populate their devices, though ESPN and the UFC expect consumers can order through the app for future events.

Shevchenko says defending the UFC flyweight belt is her number one challenge

UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko claimed the vacant title when she defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 last December. She will put the belt on the line for the first time in Chicago, Ill., when she faces Jessica Eye at UFC 238 on June 8.

UFC title contender Jessica Eye says her move to Las Vegas gives her an edge

Ohio native Jessica Eye says she moved to Las Vegas to get an edge in performance ahead of facing UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 238 in Chicago, Ill., on June 8.

Greg Hardy, former NFL star, on MMA knockout

The former NFL star needed just 17 seconds to score a knockout on Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series (Adam Hill/Review-Journal)

UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo is coming up to the bantamweight division to battle Marlon Moraes for the vacant belt on June 8 at UFC 238. Moraes said Cejudo will regret going after a second title in a new division and added that he thinks his path will cross with former champion TJ Dillashaw in the future.

Paige VanZant details her arm injury, when she can return - VIDEO

UFC strawweight Paige VanZant was briefly linked to fight at UFC 236, but had to withdraw from the bout due to a broken arm. As a guest on the RJ Ringside Podcast, she detailed the injury and also spoke about joining the M-1 Global booth as a color commentator.

UFC 236 Press Conference Highlights

UFC 236 will feature a pair of interim title fights. In the main event, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will face lightweight contender Dustin Poirier and middleweights Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum will collide in the co-main event. UFC 236 will take place in Atlanta, Ga., on Apr. 13.

Jon Jones retains light heavyweight belt at UFC 235 - VIDEO

Jon Jones retained the UFC light heavyweight belt when he earned a decision over Anthony Smith in the main event of UFC 235.

Kamaru Usman crowned new champ at UFC 235 — VIDEO

Kamaru Usman became the first African-born fighter to claim a UFC belt when he defeated Tyron Woodley to become the promotion's new welterweight champion.

UFC 235 Official Weigh-in Results - VIDEO

All 24 fighters competing at UFC 235 at the T-Mobile Arena on March 2 stepped on the scale prior for the official fight card weigh-ins. All four fighters competing in the title bouts slated for the event made weight.

UFC's Jones says he has no shame after recent drug test results are released - VIDEO

Though recent drug test results still show trace amounts of Turinabol in his system, UFC light heayvweight champion Jon Jones says he has no shame and is hiding nothing as he prepares for his UFC 235 title bout against Anthony Smith.

Anthony Smith stays level-headed prior to UFC 235 title fight - VIDEO

Despite UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones being in the spotlight for drug test discrepancies and other outside the cage struggles, Anthony Smith says he is tuning out the noise and remaining focused on the challenge of beating the reigning champion in the cage.

UFC 235 Media Day Highlights

Highlights and staredowns from the top three fights on the UFC 235 fight card taking place at the T-Mobile Arena on March 2.

Dustin Poirier bloodied Max Holloway and won a unanimous decision for the UFC interim lightweight title on Saturday night, denying Holloway his chance to become only the fourth fighter to hold two belts at the same time.

Dustin Poirier bloodied Max Holloway and won a unanimous decision for the UFC interim lightweight title on Saturday night, denying Holloway his chance to become only the fourth fighter to hold two belts at the same time.